CIA’s Haspel listened to recording of Saudi writer’s alleged killing

Jacqueline Daniels

"As we gather here in Riyadh this morning, it is natural that our thoughts tend to focus on recent events surrounding the death of Jamal Khashoggi a writer, a journalist and a Saudi journalist known to many of us", she said.

The CIA's Haspel heard an audio recording of Khashoggi's death during a trip to Turkey this week, sources told Reuters.

At a conference in Riyadh on Wednesday, the crown prince said the killing was a "heinous crime that can not be justified" and warned against any efforts to "manipulate" the crisis and drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which are regional rivals but also diplomatic and business partners.

Representatives of the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment on Haspel's review of the recording.

He said 18 suspects detained by Saudi Arabia should be extradited to Istanbul to face trial over the killing and called for an investigation into those with "even the slightest link" to the case.

Saudi Arabia first denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance on October 2 but a Saudi official eventually attributed his death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to a botched attempt to return him to the kingdom.

Stephens too good for Osaka in WTA finalsIt has been a whirlwind for Osaka since her stunning victory over Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows in September. The 2017 victor defeated the fellow debutant 7-5 4-6 6-1 in two hours and 24 minutes in Singapore .

Saudi officials - after weeks of denials - now concede that he died, but they say it happened accidentally in a fight at the consulate.

Though bound together by security considerations and oil, the ties and friendship between the USA and Saudi Arabia have not always been smooth.

Erdogan offered his "sincere apologies" to the senior scribe's family, fiancee and the people of Saudi Arabia before beginning his speech at the Turkish parliament. He also said he would let Congress decide how to proceed on the matter.

"Personally, I do not doubt the sincerity of his excellency the King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", Erdogan said, before stressing the importance of an "impartial and just" inquiry.

The crown prince, 33, is widely blamed for Washington Post columnist Mr Khashoggi's death at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, at the hands of a Saudi hit squad.

Canada's relationship with Saudi Arabia became strained in August, when Riyadh suspended diplomatic ties with Canada and expelled the Canadian ambassador after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland criticized the regime on Twitter for its arrest of social activists. A few days later, the Turkish police launched an investigation into the disappearance case.

"We're getting facts in from multiple places and once those facts come in, the secretary of state will work with our national security team to help us determine what we want to believe, what we think is credible and what we think is not credible", Kushner told CNN.

"Who are these people receiving orders from?"

Saudi Arabia has always been a major USA ally in the Middle East, thanks primarily to security considerations and oil.

The crisis overshadowed the crown prince's high-profile economic forum, aimed at raising much needed investments to underwrite his plans to overhaul the Saudi economy.

On October 24, May called on the Saudi authorities to hold those responsible for the journalist's murder accountable and added that those responsible for the murder would be banned from entering the United Kingdom.

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